Power plant site zoning is debated

Wednesday

Apr 27, 2011 at 12:01 AMApr 28, 2011 at 11:36 AM

By GEORGE AUSTIN

By GEORGE AUSTIN

Editor

SOMERSET — After listening to proponents of articles to rezone the Somerset Station power plant land and representatives of the owner of that property, Planning Board members decided to wait until the night of the town meeting on May 16 to decide if they will make a recommendation on the articles.

One of the articles would amend a town zoning bylaw so that no building, structure or lot shall be used for a biomass, gasification or plasma gasification electric generating facility. Another article would vote to rezone 38.4 acres of land off of Riverside Avenue from industrial to business.

"Our concern is the future health and economic welfare of the Town of Somerset," said Pauline Rodrigues, who lives near the power plant property.

The purpose of the public hearing that was started last Tuesday at the Council On Aging center was to take public comments to see if the Planning Board wants to make recommendations on the articles at town meeting. The board does not have to make a recommendation.

Ms. Rodrigues said the town's master plan outlines zoning changes for the property. She said the current industrial zoning of the property would allow anything on the site, including a liquefied natural gas terminal.

Ms. Rodrigues said there are other power plant sites that have been converted into other uses and had examples to provide to the board.

"This is all we're asking for, is to preserve the health and integrity of our town," Ms. Rodrigues said.

Attorney Franklin Stearns, representing Somerset Power, gave a letter to the Planning Board "in strong opposition," to the town meeting articles. He said Somerset Power is in the process of marketing the property so it can sell the site. Atty. Stearns said it is important that the town understand that approving the proposed rezoning of the property would have a negative effect on that sale. He said the types of petitions that have been submitted send a message to potential developers of the property that the town would be unreceptive. He called the change from industrial to business zoning as "downzoning" the property. Atty. Stearns said business zoning is much more limiting than industrial zoning for developers. He said it would prevent research and development and manufacturing facilities from being placed on the property. He said rezoning the property would hinder job creation and investment into the property.

Atty. Stearns said the company he is representing believes there is "serious legal issues" with the petitions that would rezone the property. He said the petitions would not change zoning for similarly situated properties in Somerset, which he said is singling out Somerset Power. He said the proposal is like "piecemeal spot zoning" without adequate study. Atty. Stearns said there has not been significant analysis of the proposal by the petitioners and said the articles ignore the town's master plan. He said the master plan asks for a cooperative approach to future use of the property, working with the owner. He said the master plan speaks of promoting redevelopment. He said what has been proposed by the petitioners is bad planning and bad administration to rezone the property without more study. He said the Planning Board should be in opposition to the articles.

Alfred Lima, who has a background in city and town planning, spoke in favor of the articles. He said Somerset's master plan recommends the town do a feasibility study on the future use of the property. He said when that recommendation was made, it looked like the power plant would be closing. He said most imports coming into the country are going to the West Coast. He said the only options for industrial uses at the Somerset Power site include a scrap iron business, LNG terminal or coal gasification plant. Mr. Lima said changing the zoning to business would upgrade the zoning of the site and would cause its property value to increase.

"Old manufacturing is gone," Mr. Lima said. "I think we all know that. No one is building large manufacturing plants. They are all going to China."

Mr. Lima prepared a plan for the site that could get people thinking of the possibilities for redevelopment. He outlined a mixed-use development plan that he said other major cities are using to replace industrial shipping areas. He said mixed-use developments have been tremendously successful. He said affordable housing for older people, retail stores and a band stand for musical performances and plays, office buildings, recreational fields and a playground could be built on the property. He said the project could employ 600 people while other industrial projects, like an LNG terminal, would only employ about 50 people. He said the plan he outlined would bring in about $2 million in tax revenue for the town which is more than three times more than the town is currently receiving from NRG, which owns the property. He said his plan is just showing what the town could do. Mr. Lima said the town should form a reuse committee to address the future of the property.

Town Administrator Dennis Luttrell said the residential tax rate is less than the industrial tax rate, so the town may bring in less money if a residential use is developed on the site, rather than an industrial use.

Mr. Lima said the petitioners would like to withdraw one of the articles to avoid the issue of spot zoning, even though he says Massachusetts case law says that any property over four acres is not spot zoning. He said if zoning is considered to the public's benefit, it also does not constitute spot zoning.

Shanna Cleveland, a staff attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation, said that throughout the region and country, small and mid-sized power plants are becoming uneconomic to run and are going out of business, like in Somerset. Ms. Rodrigues provided information on five sites that have been redeveloped. One of them would redevelop a power plant site in Austin, Texas into an area with offices, retail shops, condominiums, boutique hotel and an outdoor terrace that overlooks a lake. Another involved converting a power generating facility in Nova Scotia to an office building. Another was a former power plant site in Pennsylvania that has been turned into a mixed-use development. A former Michigan power plant site is being converted into a building for an insurance company.

Atty. Cleveland said her foundation is trying to help ease the burden on communities by helping them to get funding for studies to find other uses for those properties. She said Mr. Lima's proposal is not "pie in the sky." She said it is not a bad time to do the type of rezoning that is being proposed. Ms. Cleveland said when developers are looking to purchase the site, they will want to know what they can use it for, so they can plan for it. She said if Somerset does not zone the property right, it may not get a desirable use for the site. She said people in the community would enjoy the property more if it was not used for a heavy industrial use. She said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has brownfields grants that can be used to help clean up pollution and redevelop the area. She said the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center wants to help out with finding uses for older power plant properties.

Planning Board member John Ferreira asked if Somerset Power is marketing the property to any specific industry. Atty. Stearns said no developer is being ruled out. Planning Board member Robert Rebello said Somerset Power should be able to sell the property without any zoning changes. He said he thinks Mr. Lima's plan is great, but whoever buys the property would decide on how to develop the site.

Planning Board member John Toulan said he has a problem with a petition to rezone property owned by a private owner. He said he understands the petitioners do not want what the current use has been on the property, which has been a coal fired power plant that has been fueled with coal, oil and jet fuel. Mr. Toulan said he would not have a problem with rezoning town-owned land.

Planning Board member Timothy Turner said Mr. Lima's plan for the property is great, but said he almost feels the cart is coming before the horse. He said it might be better to discuss rezoning the property after the town has a better idea of potential uses for the property. He proposed tabling the articles until there is a more definitive picture for the future of the site.

Ms. Rodrigues said if the town waits for a buyer to come in, it would be too late to rezone the property. Mr. Turner said the town could meet with the owner of the power plant property before it is sold so it would not be blind sided. Mr. Rodrigues said she doesn't think Somerset Power or NRG is concerned with Somerset taxpayers and just want to dump the property.

"It may be their property, but they're in our town." Ms. Rodrigues said.

Mr. Ferreira said the town can not put a restriction on who NRG can sell the property to. Planning Board Chairman Gary Simons said whoever buys the property would have to come before the town for permitting before the property is developed. Town Counsel Clement Brown said a developer would also have to go before state and federal agencies to develop the property.

David Dionne, a member of the Massachusetts Clean Air Coalition, said he lives in Westport where he has seen industrial land that the town did not own rezoned. Atty. Brown said it is not unusual to rezone property that is already owned by a private owner, but said the town can not spot zone. He said grandfathering law could allow the same prior use of the property unless the site has not been used for a long period of time, which could be defined as two years.

The residents who proposed the zoning changes also have requested that the selectmen create an NRG property reuse committee to oversee the preparation of a reuse plan of the site of the power plant that has not been in operation since January of last year. The reuse committee would consist of five members who would hold public hearings and give a written report to town meeting voters next year. If approved, that article would authorize the selectmen to apply for grant funding and to appropriate, borrow or transfer funds to prepare the plan. Another article would rezone property that includes property off portions of County Street, Riverside Avenue, Prospect Street and Clifford Holland Road. National Grid owns that property, but did not have a representative at last week's Planning Board hearing.

If the zoning articles are approved by town meeting voters, the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office would have 90 days to review the articles to make sure they are OK.

The power plant provided a lot of tax revenue to the town for many years. It had been called one of the dirtiest power plants in New England. Neighbors had complained for many years that coal dust from the plant dirtied their houses and cars. NRG had proposed to repower the power plant which representatives of the company said would significantly reduce pollution with plasma gasification. Environmentalists alleged that the proposal would have contributed to global warming and were concerned about the health effects they felt that processing of demolition and construction debris could cause. But NRG has abandoned that plan and decided to sell the property.

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